Spring Break Injuries: Holding Hotels, Bars & More Liable

College and university students nationwide look for fun adventures of all sorts when spring break arrives. Whether your spring break was scheduled in the middle of March or is only just beginning, please remember to stay safe during your fun. Serious accidents can and do occur each year during spring break, resulting in thousands of dollars of damages, such as medical bills, semesters cut short, and emotional trauma.

This all begs the question: “Who can be held accountable for a spring break injury?” The answer, of course, lies with how the injury actually occurred. If you get hurt while spring breaking, pay close attention to the setting to see if another party could be liable for what happened.

Here are a couple of commonly cited defendants in spring break injury lawsuits:

• Hotels: Some of the wildest parties for spring break are held in major hotels for their convenience. Students do not have to go far to get to their room, there is always food downstairs, and a community pool can bring everyone together. However, poolside injuries are fairly common during spring break, and hotel staff and management can be held accountable. Hotels must make certain everyone follows posted pool rules, which includes maintaining a maximum occupancy. If not, the hotel could be liable for injuries that occur there.
• Bars: California does not have much in the way of dram shop laws that can hold a bar accountable for overselling alcohol to an intoxicated patron who later causes an accident. Bars can still be liable for injuries within their walls, though, if reasonable safety precautions were not taken to prevent those injuries. For example, an overcrowded bar may set the stage for a trample injury, and the bar could be partially liable if it was over-occupied.
• Universities: The health and safety of all students and faculty on university grounds falls on the university itself. Security personnel should be readily available to keep the peace, break up fights, protect people returning from a party to their dorms, and so forth. This demand for security only increases during spring break when universities can reasonably anticipate an influx of wild late night parties.

Legal Representation for Injured College Students

If you have been injured at no fault of your own while trying to enjoy your spring break, come to Habbas & Associates in San Jose. Our team of personal injury lawyers have more than 200 years of legal experience together, which we use to diligently represent our clients in all sorts of personal injury claims. If a third party can be held liable for your injuries, then you can bet we have the legal knowledge and resources needed to determine and prove that liability, even taking them to court when need be.

Call (888) 387-4053 today to learn more about how to retain our legal representation.